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Chapter 232 - Clash (1)

Dawn had passed, and the sun was fully above the horizon.

However, despite it being broad daylight, neither of the armies moved, and the absolute silence accentuated the tense, foreboding atmosphere.

It was the calm before the storm, and everybody could feel that it would be a terrible storm.

When the sun rose to its highest point, the imperial army finally moved.

“Start your prayers.”

The voice came from a high point, somewhere in the middle of the troops. It came from the mud wall the imperial army had built upon arrival, but strangely enough, this structure wasn’t meant to function as a siege weapon.

It looked like the spire that the wizards had built, similar to a lighthouse meant to guide fishermen. Of course, it had been built overnight, so it wasn’t very tall, but it was still tall enough to offer a good view of the chaos that would soon be unleashed on the battlefield.

The imperial army called their mud tower the Holy Spire, and the reason for that name was simple: the presence of so many priests made even the most trivial tower seem holy.

The Holy Spire made of mud, had a sturdy, structured center, with a staircase leading from the ground all the way to the very top, wrapping around the center like a coiled snake.

At the top of the Holy Spire, Irenae, a female Saint known as a walking blessing, appeared, accompanied by the best priests.

There was one Saint and the twelve most prominent priests in the Church of Peace, who were called the Twelve Apostles. They were the twelve chosen representatives of Irene, the goddess of peace.

The Twelve Apostles served the female Saint, and the only person who reigned above her was the Pope.

As Irenae started to recite the written prayer with her hands clasped together, the Twelve Apostles also started to recite it, their hands clasped as well.

With that, the high and intermediate priests, who had lined up on the staircase, joined as well.

The number of priests did not end there. The junior priests, who could not get inside the spire as there was no more space, formed a large circle around the Holy Spire and recited the prayer after their senior priests.

It was a scene of united faith that blossomed; it was sacred and majestic.

With the chorus reciting the prayer, the sanctity of the mud spire was elevated. It seemed as if it were the actual Holy Spire in St. Hall.

“Great and merciful Irene, here are the brave warriors who have gathered to defend the peace of the continent...”

The prayer recited by Saint Irenae was no mere prayer. It was a Holy Code for the War Clerics that had been handed down from generation to generation within the Priest Organization of the Sun.

The Holy Code she was currently reciting was a great, sacred boundary that would protect their army from their enemies.

“...We desperately pray. Grant us a firm and sacred shield to protect us from evil...!”

Finally, the saint finished her prayer. The moment the last sentence of her prayer left her mouth...

Ptzzz...!

This wasn’t the mere light of a 1st-Circle wizard; rather it was a sacred, holy, and indescribably warm light that enveloped the entire Holy Spire.

The light flowed down the mud tower like a waterfall, going from the top all the way to the bottom of the stairs, enveloping the junior priests who were outside.

After the holy light enveloped each and every one of the junior priests, it rose into the sky.

Shaaaa...!

It looked like an aurora, and after the pure white light shot up in the sky, it soon scattered widely across the entirety of the imperial army, enveloping every soldier like a warm blanket.

“These are the saints...!”

They were in broad daylight, but nevertheless, the soldiers gasped in amazement at the bright and warm light that engulfed them.

The imperial army wasn’t the only one to notice this change.

“Hmm, the Holy Code, huh...”

Henry watched the whole spectacle from the highest point of the Zipan castle.

“That Pope has finally gone insane, hasn’t he?”

The Sun Warriors of the Church of Peace, especially the Paladins and War Clerics of the organization, were never allowed to use the Holy Code against regular people; they were only allowed to use it against demons or practitioners of black magic. This was the law and one of the commandments of the Church of Peace.

However, the Church of Peace had used the Holy Code in a power struggle that had been brought about simply because of greed, which meant that the Church of Peace had become politically corrupt.

Henry looked at them with disdain. He thought they were pathetic.

Of course, Henry understood where the Pope was coming from. If the Church of Peace weren’t able to become the state religion of the Aenia Empire, it would never be able to enjoy the glory it once had in the Eurasia Empire.

‘You fool. I guess your god didn’t tell you what side you should be on.’

Henry imagined the Pope’s old, ugly face, and made up his mind to go to St. Hall to behead him after this battle was over.

“Well then, let’s see how great this Holy Code is.”

The Holy Code, which served to protect people, was something thousands of priests had worked on. Thus, in order to let them believe that their efforts hadn’t been in vain, Henry decided to put on a little show.

Oong!

Henry floated in the air, but not very high. He didn’t want to hide; he just wanted to gain their attention.

As Henry rose above the Zipan castle, the imperial soldiers all turned their attention to him.

He enjoyed all eyes being on him, and soon cast a spell. When he was finished, he muttered the words that would officially begin the battle.

“...Summon Meteor.”

Whoosh!

With that, the atmosphere above Henry grew heavier. Soon after, the sky was split apart, revealing a pitch-black universe.

Rumble...!

It looked like the sky itself was shaking in agony, as if one’s flesh was being torn apart.

Along with the violent vibrations, a meteor that was roughly the size of a house appeared from the darkness above.

“T-that’s...!”

It was indeed a meteor.

It was likely that nobody in this world had ever seen in their lifetime what a meteor looked like. Thus, in a sense, the imperial soldiers beneath Henry were incredibly lucky to witness this.

Rumble...!

Summon Meteor was a spell that literally summoned a meteor, a shooting star, to the skies of this planet.

Henry felt his mana being depleted.

This spell, which at first glance would seem like it dealt with the elements of fire and earth, was actually a very tricky spell. In fact, this spell was more like a kind of Teleportation. For that reason, Summon Meteor was an incredibly difficult spell that no ordinary Archmage would dare to attempt.

Soon, the meteor, which was far bigger than ten carriages combined, emerged from the skies. It was initially falling toward Henry, but he changed its trajectory to the Holy Spire.

Rumble...!

The atmosphere vibrated violently.

The meteor, which was engulfed in flames, rapidly approached the mud tower like an angry bison.

“...!”

Saint Irenae’s eyes grew wide in astonishment. She had thought that the worst possible scenario was a magic bombardment, not magic of this magnitude.

“Everyone, focus!”

The Holy Code depended on how strong their belief in their god was. Thus, the stronger their faith, the stronger the effects of the Holy Code were. That was why the Holy Code of Saint Irenae was so strong.

At the Saint’s shout, all the priests clasped their hands and immediately started praying.

The prayer was rather simple; everybody chanted in unison, “Great Goddess Irene, please protect us!”

Whoosh!

Irene, the goddess of peace, enveloped the imperial army with a thicker protective Holy Code as a reward for their unwavering faith.

Finally, the moment Henry’s Summon Meteor clashed against the priests’ Holy Code...!

Boom!

There was a tremendous shockwave.

***

A massive dust cloud formed. As if a god were trying to recreate the world, dust engulfed everything, from the imperial troops to the Zipan castle.

The sound produced by the impact of the meteor against the Holy Code had been extremely loud, but thanks to the barrier that Henry and the wizards of the Magical Spire had set up, nobody had gone deaf.

The thick dust cloud settled over the magic barrier. Even though the sun had reached its highest point, Zipan was plunged into complete darkness.

The army of the Allied Powers stood quiet, but soon, a ray of light broke through the darkness.

Whoosh...!

The ray soon expanded into a giant source of light, bringing sunshine back to the allied army. It was broad daylight again.

Henry had used wind magic to remove the dust from the surface of the barrier.

The troops of the Allied Powers, who had all crouched down at the deafening boom of the meteor, stood up and took sight of the scene beyond the rampart.

“...!”

“T-the plain of Herrerne is...!”

Nothing was destroyed. The only thing that was different was the fact that the surrounding golden fields were covered in dust, as if the landscape had transformed into a desert.

“A-ah...!”

Some of the soldiers were Zipan farmers, and they couldn\'t help but be horrified at the sight of the Herrerne Plain having turned into a barren desert.

“...They withstood that?”

But unlike the Zipan soldiers, Henry looked very intrigued. He had obviously expected that some degree of damage would result from the impact of the meteor, but not a single imperial soldier had been killed, or even injured. The only thing they suffered was being covered in dust.

Henry smirked as he watched the imperial soldiers shake the dust off their armor and spit out dirt.

‘Was her name Irenae? That Pope sure does have one hell of a woman as his Saint.’

Irenae looked very young, barely past the age of maturity, and despite that, she had protected the entire imperial army.

Henry shifted his gaze on Irenae, who stood at the top of the mud tower.

“Agh...!”

Blood trickled from the corners of Irenae’s mouth. Even though she was considered the living blessing, she had dealt with a 7th-Circle’s Summon Meteor. It would’ve been truly absurd if she hadn’t faced any backlash from withstanding such powerful, high-level magic.

Henry thought that her spitting out blood was enough progress.

‘This is good enough as an introduction.’

Immediately after using Summon Meteor, he had used a series of powerful wind spells to clear away the dust that had covered the barrier.

However, even though Henry had a lot of mana, he still ended up feeling dizzy.

Of course, it wasn’t just his curiosity for the Saint that had led him to use the Summon Meteor. Henry would soon be leaving this place to ambush the capital. So, this was also a strategic show of strength. It was his way of stating that he was just as powerful as that girl Saint over there.

“The real battle is just getting started.”

The Holy Code and the Summon Meteor had officially signaled the start of the battle.